Exeter New Hampshire Aug 2015
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With so many other big attractions clamoring for attention such as Portsmouth NH on the east, Newburyport MA in the south and Ogunquit ME on the north and the big city pull of Manchester NH on the west, one may be tempted to overlook this little town smacked right in the middle of an area surrounded by its famous neighbors. The charming little town is Exeter New Hampshire.
You would invariably miss this town if one is driving from Boston MA to Portsmouth NH. One has to make a detour off the popular coastal highway Route 1 in order to get to Exeter. A little side note on the historic Route 1 : You could drive from northern tip Calais(K-LAY) Maine on the east coast all the way down to Miami in Florida on Route 1 but you would never really finish the trip because I bet you would give up after 100 miles since the route winds through so many little towns and with millions of traffic lights one has to deal with.
I normally get off the interstate I-95 at Seabrook the first major exit in New Hampshire before the freeway turns into a toll way. I fill gas as it is lot cheaper here than in Massachusetts and I stop at one of the restaurants in Seabrook and figure out what I want to do next. Obviously the biggest draw in the area is Portsmouth NH and many of its surrounding beach towns and that is just the beginning. Things get lot more interesting along the coast as you work your way up on Route 1. I would not go beyond Portland Maine on Route 1 since the traffic is painfully slow and it takes all day to get there. If you like to go to the points beyond Portland, the intestate toll way I-95 is your safe bet; you pay through the nose but you save valuable time and preserve sanity.
Before we got carried away we still have Exeter NH to deal with. When you are in Seabrook NH you are almost knocking at the doorstep of Exeter. You just have to drive west a little inland either on Rt 88 or Rt 101 that would take you right into the town square. Things really come to a crawl when you are in Exeter. You get to see how the locals slow down and take their time to enjoy little things. After you walk around the town square you are convinced that the most favorite spot in the village is an ice-cream shop on the north end of the main street. While you are savoring your treat you might as well go for a leisurely stroll on the Swasey Parkway inside the public park along the Exeter River. If you happen to be in the park in August you are likely to spot a sign at the park entrance about "Free Outdoor Movie Nights" in the park on Thursdays.
==Two weeks later==
Sri kept reminding me about the movie night in Exeter for the last couple of weeks. Would you really make a 70 mile trek on a week night to go see a movie? That sounds insane but last week we all said "What the heck, lets go do it." I got home on an earlier train from Boston and Sri was waiting for me at Framingham train station with kids in tow and we all hit the north bound interstate I-95 and we had to be there in Exeter by dark. We stopped on the way to get a bite to eat and after our meal we suddenly realized we still had another 50 miles to go in under an hour and try doing that in rush hour traffic. It had started raining and thick fog blanketed the whole metro area making the road conditions worse. I had to battle the traffic, elements and kids squabbles in the back, pull all tricks of the road and managed to get to the park in Exeter just a few minutes after the movie had begun. Kids enjoyed watching "How to train a Dragon II". I was not too amused by the idea of watching an animation but I ended up liking it. It was a crazy thing to do but the trip certainly beats the normal daily grind of a weekday.
==Thank You==
